Song of the Day: Joy Wants Eternity – The Fog Is Rising

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Every Friday, we present a song by a Northwestern artist. Today’s selection, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards is “The Fog Is Rising” by Seattle’s Joy Wants Eternity from their self-released 2012 album The Fog Is Rising.

Formed in a basement nine years ago, the Seattle five-piece Joy Wants Eternity creates massive atmospheric post-rock instrumentals that alternate between soothing crawls and furious sonic hurricanes. The album’s second and titular track, “The Fog Is Rising” opens with a simple, mid-tempo guitar line. This calm doesn’t last for long though, as the band gradually adds airy synthesizers, resonating bass, and a loose drum groove. After a short pause in the tempo to let the song breathe, the momentum picks up again, and the track swells to a new height, forming a beautiful crescendo. The final section of the song begins as Emory Liu’s pounding drums take over the barely-controlled chaos of Salvador Huerta and Michael Sterling’s guitars, but once again, the band brings the tension to a fever pitch until they release it for the last time, bringing an end to another one of the band’s dynamic rollercoaster rides. It’s an exercise in dynamic control that rivals anything Explosions in the Sky or Mogwai have put out in the past few years.

Joy Wants Eternity are participating tonight in the Shatter Sessions at the Tacoma Museum of Glass, during which bands attempt to shatter glass with their music! And you are invited to shatter glass along with them today, Friday, July 13 at 7pm. You can find potential future dates and more about the band on their website and Facebook page.